A message to our grandchildren

Among other accomplishments in a life of
public service, Arizona native Stewart Udall was perhaps the most
influential secretary of Interior ever. He served in the Kennedy
and Johnson administrations from 1961 to 1969, and played a part in
some of the nation's landmark environmental laws, including the
Clean Air Act, the Wilderness Act and the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act. He now lives in Santa Fe, N.M., where he and
his wife, Lee, penned this letter to their grandchildren.

My dear ones, your generation will face a series of
environmental challenges that will dwarf anything any previous
generation has confronted. I'm hoping to add some insights of my
own based on things I learned as a policymaker in the 1950s and
'60s, when I observed and participated in some monumental
achievements and profound misjudgments.

As a freshman
congressman in 1955, I regrettably voted with my unanimous
colleagues for the Interstate Highway Program. All of us acted on
the shortsighted assumption that cheap oil was super-abundant and
would always be available. This illusion began to unravel in the
1970s, and it haunts Americans today.

Oil lies at the
epicenter of a critical energy crisis. Petroleum is a finite
resource and is the most precious, versatile resource on the
planet. Cheap oil played a crucial role in the development of
American power and prosperity, and sustains the military machine
that dominates the world today. Oil is now nearing a historic
transition that will alter the civilization Americans have come to
take for granted.

As world oil production reaches its
apex and begins its inevitable decline, it will have a radical
impact on everyday American life. It will take bold political
leadership and awareness on the part of individual citizens to
craft a full-scale, creative response. I watched with admiration in
1974 as my friend, President Gerald Ford, persuaded Congress to
adopt a 55 mph speed limit to reduce our reliance on imported oil.
He also got a law passed which mandated production of more
fuel-efficient automobiles.

I am convinced that the
American people will tighten their belts if a president forges a
national strategy to stretch the life of our oil reserves and to
adjust to a long-range plan of energy conservation.

Energy efficiency must be the rallying cry. Higher oil prices are
already serving as a wake-up call. Despite an utter lack of
leadership from the White House, a few progressive states and
cities are building light-rail systems to serve urban residents and
commuter trains to connect their communities.

I urge you
to be stalwart supporters of any projects that promote fuel
efficiency and conservation for all citizens.

You also
must contend with the carbon dioxide problem. Once it is released
into the atmosphere, this gas has a long life (approximately 100
years), spreads over the entire globe, and acts as a blanket that
warms all parts of the earth.

The United States and China
are responsible for producing over 40 percent of the CO2 that is
altering the earth's atmosphere. Consequently, these two nations
have a moral responsibility to be in the forefront of any global
campaign to develop new technologies to cut the emissions of this
damaging pollutant.

I have recently proposed that these
two countries join together in a 50/50 research venture, and
assemble teams of engineers and scientists to work together to
develop technologies to capture carbon as it emerges from coal
power plants. These teams would perfect technologies to isolate the
carbon and transport it through pipelines to storage sites in the
deep ocean or in depleted oil and natural gas fields. The success
of such international cooperation would set an example that could
spur development of new supplies of renewable energy.

All
climates would benefit from advances produced by such an
enterprise: Today, China has the most polluted air in the world and
suffers the most premature deaths from gross air pollution. These
same teams of scientists could also devise technologies to capture
the deadly pollutants that shorten the lives of millions of people
in all parts of the world.

Even though scientists can
solve many technological problems, a word of caution is in order. I
learned during my government service that even the most gifted
researchers couldn't perform technical miracles. The skilled
engineers at the Interior Department built the first direct current
line to transmit huge blocks of electricity from hydroelectric dams
on the Columbia River to Los Angeles by simply flipping a switch.
But the same engineers couldn't develop a cheap technique to
desalinate seawater.

One further example will dramatize
my point. In the summer of 1969, after our astronauts completed
their round trip to the moon (a brilliant but narrow feat), most
Americans were overwhelmed by the promises that became the mantra
of that exciting moment. The slogan, "This proves we can do
whatever we want to do," influenced the mindset of Americans and
generated a vision of a future with no restraints or limits.
President Richard Nixon, quickly rebuked for his wild rhetoric by
the Rev. Billy Graham, characterized the accomplishment as "the
greatest week since the creation of the earth." A gusher of
extravagant prophecies followed, predicting that a new planet of
superabundant resources had magically come into existence followed.
Though scientists regarded such predictions as Alice in
Wonderland speculation, they were generally
ignored; dissent was not welcome during this moment of triumph.

Meanwhile, Americans' vision of the future was warped;
they believed, falsely, that technologists could perform miracles
that would solve any future energy problems. Ignored was the
nation's ever-increasing dependence on oil produced by other
countries. Worse yet, this new vision offered assurances that our
own oil wells would never run dry, and it has persuaded many of the
current leaders of our nation that global warming is a myth.

Having said that, technology may yet help solve some of
our current problems. Some of the world's best architects and
designers are already working on changes in the design of buildings
and cities, which, they believe, will reduce requirements for
electricity by as much as 50 percent by 2050.

Such
advances won't be enough, however. Americans must finally cast
aside our notion that we can continue the wasteful consumption
patterns of our past. We must promote a consciousness attuned to a
frugal, highly efficient mode of living. In closing, I leave you
with these thoughts, and hope you will hold to these ideals
throughout your lives:

Foster a consciousness that puts a
premium on the common good and the protection of the environment.
Give your unstinting support to all lasting, fruitful technological
innovations. Be steadfast enemies of waste. The lifetime crusade of
your days must be to develop a new energy ethic to sustain life on
earth.

In the 1960s, when the carbon problem and the
exhaustion of the world's petroleum were still beyond our gaze, I
advocated a new ethic to guide our nation's stewardship of its
resources. I realize now this approach was too narrow, too
nationalistic. To sustain life on our small planet, we will need a
wider, all-encompassing planetary resource ethic based on values
implemented by mutual cooperation. This ethic must be rooted in the
most intrinsic values of all: Caring, sharing, and mutual efforts
that reach beyond all obstacles and boundaries.

Go well,
do well, my children. Cherish sunsets, wild creatures and wild
places. Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth.

More from Communities

I would look out over the Los Angeles basin
from my parent's house every morning, and the orange plume
from every refinery in the basin stood out. You could still see
Catalina Island in the distance, in the morning. I drove to school
in my car that got 30 mpg. (curse you Ralph Nader!) It was a VERY
safe and efficient '61 Corvair. (I RACED the 61 and then a
'65. The 65 Corvair was in fact among the best handling and
safest cars ever made in the U.S.) At school one day we put on a
radio show. We spoke of high mileage small cars, and mass transit
for southern California using the old "Red Car"
rights of way. Almost immediately Standard Oil (Chevron now) and
Chrysler joined in a huge PR effort to counter ours. That was in
1963!!!!

Years later, "Who Framed Roger
Rabbit" would speak to the same theme for
"Tunetown".

As we allowed our
rail lines to be abandoned in favor of long-haul trucks, and built
bigger, dumber, cars and more freeways, and toll roads, we
basically did it ALL wrong. It was NOT AS IF NOBODY
KNEW!!

Forty years late, and many
trillions of dollars short; in OUR pockets, but filling oil company
coffers, conservation and wise use is still challenged by the
powers that be, and folks just keep on
"truckin'".

Doug
Troutman

Anonymous

Apr 07, 2008 11:36 AM

sorry but the biggest environmental challenge is
overpopulation, which causes all the other problems. Every problem
we have will be a bazillion times greater a few years from now when
there are 9 billion people and 500 million in the US.
Where's the concern for the biggest of all
problems?

terryrogers

Apr 07, 2008 11:36 AM

The opening editorial sentence overlooks the
achievements, or at least the ambitions, of that other Arizona Sec
of Int Bruce Babbitt ('Cities in the Wilderness').
But the heart and soul shown in Mr. and Ms. Udall's letter
is much appreciated, and although it pains me to think that
'clean' coal could be considered as our only
nearest possible hope in the next several decades (having read
Reece's book on strip mining in 'Lost
Mountain'), I'm always glad to see someone with Mr.
Udall's background and influence involved in calls for
action. More of this needed, please. Much more.

Thanks for the great thought-provoking reading.

T. Rogers

Anonymous

Apr 07, 2008 12:16 PM

Truely inspirational words of wisdom from, in my view,
the greatest Sectretary of the Interior we've ever had.
I've lived my life according to those principles as a
government biologist in fisheries all over the West, and a still
hopeful writer. There is much work to do, if
we are all to survive. It has to be a group effort of
humanity. The cost of failure is our utlimate demise.

Anonymous

Apr 07, 2008 01:01 PM

Back when I was in junior high school (about
1950), I asked the question: "What will we do
when the oil runs out?"

I was
informed that this was not an issue to worry about. that we had
bettr ways to explore for new oil fields, we could drill deeper in
the Gulf of Mexico, geophysicists were developing new and better
ways of discovering new fields, and that finally we could import
large amounts of oil from foreign countries to meet our needs.

What 's more, in addition to being a
waste of time to even consider this issue, it was also un-American
to discuss this queston.

Edward C. Mangold

Anonymous

Apr 14, 2008 11:17 AM

as usual , mr udall spends more time
thinking we live in a 'star trek' age of
'technology' rather than addressing the real issues
and losing popularity by telling us to drive less .

most of these so called 'architects' are
basing their designs on parking lots . not walkable communities .

i am positive that mr. udalls'
heartwarming epistle to his grandchildren was typed out within the
luxury of his 10,000 square foot mansion.

he
is nothing more than a politician . he is al gore all over again.

Anonymous

Apr 14, 2008 11:24 AM

How is it when West has spewed C02 for 150
years. only recently that China is producing toys, wal-mart junk
for the american market. If you stop buying this junk,
china wouldn't be producing that C02. The
question is whether those who created the problem
(The Capitalist system) can come up with the
solution.

I think not. No one
technology will replace Coal and Oil. Any new technology
takes 20 years to remove the cobwebs and another 20 years to scale
to meet the current demand. Oil took 50+ years to reach
its hight.

Furthermore, can
any politician brave enough to tell their
population that their society has to go back to 100 years in the
past. Let us look that was US like 100 years ago.
Women didn't vote. Blacks were third
class citizen. Millions for Native american had just been
exterminated. a lot more can be said but you get the
picture that I am painting.